


Who Tells Your Story?

by Nostalgia_101



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2016-07-15
Packaged: 2018-07-24 05:02:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7494897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nostalgia_101/pseuds/Nostalgia_101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Doctor and Rose accidentally find themselves in the Enchanted Forest at King Midas's ball they're stunned to discover another couple of time travellers named Charles and Leia, who seem to have run into a lot of trouble with the Evil Queen.</p><p>(Canon-divergence for episode 3.21 - written for CS AU week on Tumblr).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Who Tells Your Story?

“… But really though, do you think he’s had a few close calls going about his business in the loo?” Rose twirled under the Doctor’s arm, mimicking the surrounding couples’ movements on the ballroom floor. Her lips curved into a smirk when she noticed a moment of contemplation flicker across his face. “Ah-ha! Knew I could crack you,” she gloated, poking him in the chest.

The Doctor broke into a grin as she slid her hand over his shoulder to resume their waltz. “Still beat your record, though, didn’t I?”

“Only because winning the ‘keeping a straight face even though I’m exploding with curiosity’ game is useless when you walk out of the TARDIS straight into a bloody _unicorn_ ,” she replied with a huff. “Follow that up with King Midas’s castle and I’ve got no hope.”

“Ah, you see, with age comes experience,” said the Doctor, ignoring the sarcastic ‘ _not enough candles in the world for your cake_ ’ mocking from his companion. “I think you’ll find I’m much more measured these days. Completely restrained. Cool as a cucumber, as the kids say…” 

Rose snorted. “You so want to sonic something don’t you.”

“I really, really do.”

Biting down on her bottom lip to suppress her laughter, Rose turned her attention to where King Midas was greeting his guests by the entryway. “I still can’t believe we’re in the actual Enchanted Forest,” she murmured, admiring all of the elegant ball gowns adorning the women. “ _And_ that fairy-tale magic is real,” she added in awe, shaking her head. “Like _legitimately_ ‘I’m going to turn you into a toad’ real.”

“I’ll admit, I hadn’t thought too much about it until now,” conceded the Doctor. “But I suppose after everything we’ve encountered – werewolves, Daleks, _farting Slitheen_ – nothing is out of the realm of possibility.”

“It’s just so Harry Potter!” Rose exclaimed happily, glancing at him with bright eyes as they continued to dance around the opulent room. “And wait till I tell mum I saw Prince Charming, she’ll flip.” Rose poked her tongue out between her teeth with a cheeky grin. “Guess I should thank you for getting us lost for the thousandth time or we’d never have found this place.”

“Not lost, just… on a detour,” the Doctor replied with an answering smile, watching as the skirts of her royal blue gown swirled around as he spun her under his arm and back into his hold. “We’ll make it to Planet Midnight one day.”

“I know we will,” Rose nodded, giving the collar of his embroidered suit jacket a gentle tug. “You and me? We’ve got all the time in the world.”

“Announcing Prince Charles and Princess Leia!” a loud voice boomed through the ballroom.

“Hold up, what’s that now?” Rose paused mid-step, causing the Doctor to bump into her as she tried to crane her neck to see the new arrivals. “Are we expecting Camilla and Chewbacca to make their debut next?”

The Doctor squinted to where Rose was staring at a blonde woman in a red dress and a man in a golden brown jacket heading towards the dance floor. “That’s… odd,” he muttered, earning a frown from his companion.

“What d’you mean?” she replied, scrutinizing his furrowed brow. “You’ve got your ‘I want to sonic someone’ face on again. What’s odd about them besides their names?”

He let go of her hand to take his glasses out of his coat pocket, popping them on to take a better look at the duo. “Ohhh, now that’s clever,” he said, appraising them from head-to-toe. “That is definitely inspired. I wonder if – _ouch_ , hey!” he griped, holding onto the side of his stomach where Rose had pinched him in annoyance.

“Oi, Captain Vague, how about you explain a bit more for the people without the brainy specs?” she said in exasperation, hands on hips.

Rubbing his side, the Doctor took off his glasses and handed them to her. “Tell me what you see.”

“Probably not a lot with this prescription,” she quipped, sliding them up her nose. “Don’t you ever clean… _Oh blimey_.” Rose’s mouth gaped open in surprise as the man and woman they were spying on completely changed appearance before her eyes. “Is that magic then?” she asked, holding onto the right arm of the glasses to lift them up and down, swapping the couple’s looks back and forth with each movement.

The Doctor nodded, tilting his head to study the well-dressed pair as the man guided the woman into a dance hold. “The screwdriver picked up on a few magical frequencies in this land not long after we arrived, so I used it to tinker with the specs. Thought it’d be best to give us an extra advantage in case any hidden dangers were lurking about.”

“Or fit blokes with scruffy beards,” Rose murmured in appreciation as she studied the prince, smirking when the Doctor whisked the glasses out of her hand with a small huff of annoyance. “They’re both quite fit actually, I wonder why they have to hide their true identities?” Her eyes lit up as she observed the shy smiles traded between Leia and Charles as they danced closely together. “Ooh, maybe they’re forbidden lovers from warring families and this is the only way they can share a sneaky date with each other in public?”

“That sounds like the plot of one of Jackie’s romance novels she tucked away in your luggage,” the Doctor said offhandedly, noticing an eyebrow raise from Rose as he put his specs back on. “Not that I’ve read any. _Well_ , maybe one… Or ten. They’re surprisingly enthralling.”

“Do you seriously not see it, though? Is this thing on?” Rose exclaimed, tapping his glasses like a microphone. “Look at they way they’re both lingering in each other’s space; Charles gazing at her like he’s just won the lottery,” she sighed softly. “They’re creating their own magic. I can almost see a glow around them.”

The Doctor cleared his throat. “Actually there _is_ a glow.”

“See?” she crowed, hitting his arm with the back of her hand. “Knew you weren’t totally oblivious to body language. When it’s not directed at you of course,” she added under her breath.

He threw her a quizzical look before shaking his head. “No, no, not that glow. I’m talking about a not-so-obvious-to-the-untrained-eye type of glow. A shimmer if you will. A glisten, a gleam, a—”

“What the hell are you on about?"

The Doctor cast a covert glance at the people around them before leaning in conspiratorially towards Rose. “A _time_ travel glow.”

“ _What?!_ ” she loudly yelped, soon realizing she’d invited the curiosity of a few fellow ball-goers. Rose yanked the Doctor back into a clumsy waltz, throwing the other dancers an apologetic smile. “Threatened to run off with Little Bo Peep if I didn’t dance with him,” she explained with a scoff. “Thinks he’s funny.” Rose quickly manoeuvred them away, keeping her eyes trained on Charles and Leia. “Time travellers, are you kidding me?” she whispered excitedly.

The Doctor nodded, lifting his nose in the air and inhaling in their direction. “Newly recruited too, I’d say, going by the smell.”

Rose snapped her attention back towards him. “The _smell_?”

“Oh yes, everyone who travels in time has a certain scent about them. Did I forget to mention that?” he replied casually. “Little bit of stardust, little bit of space fumes, the odd hint of boiled cabbage. But those two only have the faintest aroma about them, that’s why I—what are you doing?”

Giving one more discreet sniff to her armpit, Rose frowned at him. “Checking that I don’t reek of rotting vegetables,” she replied indignantly. “You could warn a girl if she’s going around smelling like an intergalactic dumpster.”

“Don’t worry, normal people can’t pick up on it. And you smell lovely – either that or I’ve just become accustomed to cabbage,” he said innocently, shouldering another whack to the arm with an impish smirk.

“Yeah that’s real comforting, thanks.” Rose’s scowl faded as she inspected Charles and Leia’s outfits. “It’s hard to tell under those long sleeves, but you do suppose they’re wearing vortex manipulators like Jack?”

The Doctor shook his head. “No I don’t think they’re time agents.”

Rose’s eyes widened, her mouth parting open slightly in wonder. “Wait, they couldn’t be…”

“No, not time lords either,” he replied with a sad smile. He guided them to a quiet alcove away from everyone, taking his screwdriver out of his pocket to hold in the couple’s direction. “Their presence here appears to have something to do with magic,” the Doctor said, listening to the discrete sound patterns in the whirring coming from the device as he scanned them.

“That’s brilliant,” she murmured to herself, before turning to the Doctor with an enticing smile. “Well, what are we waiting for then? Let’s go introduce ourselves.”

“What? No, hold on a second,” the Doctor stammered, gently grabbing onto Rose’s arm to prevent her from moving. “Here’s a thought, let’s do the opposite of that. Rushing leads to haste leads to ill-conceived decisions and before you know it you own a ship called Boaty McBoatface… remind me to explain that reference to you later.” 

“Are you doing a bit?” Rose said, scrunching her nose and cocking her head to the side. “Is this the part where we both laugh and then rush in anyway?”

“Usually yes,” the Doctor sighed, letting go of her arm to adjust a few settings on his screwdriver. “But in this instance I don’t think it would be wise to converge on another traveller’s time stream when we don’t know all the facts.”

“So why don’t we go and find _out_ some facts?” Rose said with a shrug. “Do a bit of mingling, have a chit-chat, find out how Prince Hot-Stuff gets his hair looking so nice,” she added with an eyebrow waggle.

“Oh yes, brilliant, and we’ll just throw in the secret time traveller’s handshake while we’re at it, hmm?” said the Doctor, distractedly ruffling a hand through his own hair.

Rose narrowed her eyes, pointing an accusatory finger in his direction. “I’m ninety nine per cent certain you’re just messing around, but if you are keeping a handshake from me I’m gonna be so ticked off.”

“There’s also the souvenir t-shirts with ‘I’m a time traveller, ask me when’ printed on them, did I forget to mention that too?” he replied offhandedly, grinning when she rolled her eyes.

“Shut up, idiot.”

The entryway doors suddenly burst open and an apprehensive murmur whipped through the throng of guests as a menacing figure stalked her way inside. Rose and the Doctor peered out from behind a column as King Midas bowed before the woman.

“Either she’s just on her way to perform a power ballad at Eurovision,” whispered Rose, giving the newcomer’s ornate outfit a once-over, “or we’ve stumbled upon the Evil Queen.” Rose winced when the Queen signalled for her armed guards to join her, glaring at anyone who dared make direct eye contact. “Life of the party this one,” muttered Rose.

“Charles and Leia aren’t her biggest fans either,” the Doctor murmured in return, pointing out the couple who were frozen on the spot whispering furiously to one another. 

The Doctor glanced between the couple and the Queen, trying to remain aloof, but his whole body was vibrating with curiosity. Unable to hold out any longer, the Doctor signalled for Rose to follow him as they crept closer to the pair. Loitering near another castle column, the Doctor aimed his screwdriver at the mysterious time travellers to hone in on their conversation, holding the device between his ear and Rose’s ear to listen.

“Is this you not rushing in then?” teased Rose, raising an eyebrow. 

“More of a leisurely stroll towards the inevitable,” the Doctor replied with a toothy grin, twisting a dial on the screwdriver until a female and male voice registered.

“Where’s Charming?” Leia said under her breath, trying to gauge her surroundings without drawing too much attention.

“I’m sure your father won’t have ventured too far,” Charles said, casting his gaze around the ballroom. “Perhaps he’s gone to have a word with the kitchen?” he added in a light tone, attempting to alleviate her worry. “The mutton they’re serving looks a tad dried out.”

“We’re going to be looking much worse than that if we’re not careful,” Leia said sharply, wincing as the Queen whooshed one of Midas’s staff away in a cloud of purple smoke for accidentally stepping on the train of her dress. “How many ways do you think you can screw up your own timeline before the world implodes?” she said worriedly, chewing on her thumbnail.

Charles took hold of Leia’s hand before she could gnaw the whole thing off, giving it a gentle squeeze. “It’s all right, love, we’ll get through this,” he reassured her. “I know we will.”

Leia glanced down at their entwined fingers, running the pad of her thumb over his skin. “How are you so certain?” she asked, lifting her head to meet his gaze. 

“Why, I picked a partner who knows what she’s doing of course,” he replied with a heartening smile, his cheeks dimpling when Leia offered him a surprised yet pleased smile in return. They were both startled from their moment when the royal guards bolted in and alerted Midas to the fact that the bandit Snow White was trespassing in the castle.

“They know mom’s here,” Leia whispered, her eyes wide with concern. “We have to make sure she stole the wedding ring,” she added, swapping a fretful glance with Charles before they both made haste for the staircase on the other side of the room.

“Now that’s interesting,” the Doctor pondered, observing them as they ran. “Prince Charming didn’t appear much older than Leia when we saw him; perhaps this is adult Leia trying to course-correct her past?” He turned back towards Rose, frowning when he noticed a melancholic mood had befallen her. “What’s wrong?”

Shaking her head, Rose offered him a tight smile. “Sorry, I just… It got me thinking about when we went back to see my dad,” she said quietly, wrapping her arms around her middle as if to ward off a chill. “I know how Leia feels about her whole world imploding.”

“As do I,” the Doctor softly replied. “But take comfort in the fact that she’s not alone. And neither are you, Rose Tyler.” He held his hand out to her, wriggling his fingers until she huffed out a small chuckle, unfolding her arms to wrap her hand around his. 

“Yeah,” Rose said with a decisive nod, leaning in to his side. “I think I’ll keep you around.” She looked over at the Queen, who was standing with an eerily serene smile on her face amidst the ruckus. “What do you suppose her royal smugness is plotting over there?”

“Hard to say, but she does give a good menacing eyebrow arch doesn’t she,” said the Doctor. “Very impressive. You could go to the eyebrow Olympics with that.”

“And I wonder why Snow White was stealing a wedding ring?” Rose continued, only half-listening to the Doctor’s stream of thought. “Since when is she an outlaw?”

The Doctor pursed his lips and shrugged. “That’s what’s brilliant about travelling in the TARDIS. We get to discover the real stories as they unfold, not the ones that have been passed down and altered over time.” He smiled at her. “We’re unique.”

Rose lifted her head to rest her chin on the Doctor’s shoulder, struggling to hold back a bemused grin.

“What’s with the smirking?” he asked, furrowing his brow. “I thought we were having a nice moment.”

“Oh, we were,” Rose said, allowing herself a giggle. “I’m just amused by your idea of unique.”

“Why?”

“Blonde woman,” she replied, ticking a list off on her fingers, “dark-haired man that sounds English, time travellers… Is there such a thing as space twins because I think we might have found ours,” she teased.

“… I’ll bet pretty boy’s putting that accent on,” the Doctor pouted.

Rose rolled her eyes. “Says you mister ‘I used to sound like I’m from the North now I’m all posh’.”

“ _What_?”

“Hush up for a moment,” she hissed out the side of her mouth, gripping his hand tighter. “One of Queen Elvira’s henchmen just disappeared up the stairs and it looks as though she’s about to follow. We can’t let them ambush Leia and Charles.”

The Doctor nodded, scanning the room for inspiration before zeroing in on the buffet of food laid out on a solid gold table. He lifted his screwdriver and took subtle aim at the half-eaten leg of mutton, using the sonic to make it leap up and start performing a bizarre hopping dance off the tray and towards the Queen.

“Not quite a poison apple but I suppose it’ll do under pressure,” quipped Rose.

“I call it the ‘mutton dressed as sham’,” said the Doctor with a pleased grin, taking pride in the half-chuckle half-groan elicited from his companion. His amusement faded when the Queen sent the mutton flying through an open window with a flick of her wrist. “Blast,” he sighed, “I thought she’d at least investigate for a source of magic before using it as shot put practice.”

“We need a Plan B,” whispered Rose, as the Doctor carefully slipped the screwdriver into his trouser pocket for safekeeping. She gave a soft gasp when an echo of footsteps could be heard in the vicinity of the staircase. Leia appeared in a flash of red, hiking her dress up in her hands to gain speed as she ran, but she wasn’t as fast as the guard who charged through the entryway.

“There she is!” the guard yelled, as his comrades advanced on Leia. “She helped the bandit escape!”

The Doctor and Rose could only look on in quiet alarm as the Queen delighted in the princess’s capture, ordering her men to take Leia away as she departed the ball as dramatically as she first appeared. Rose curled her fingers around the Doctor’s arm, her heart going out to both Leia and Charles, the latter of whom she had spied agonizing amongst the crowd. She could see it was taking all of his willpower not to charge in after his princess, but it was obvious it wouldn’t do either of them any good to both be under the Queen’s command.

“ _Doctor_ …” said Rose, her voice laced with unease. “I understand we shouldn’t interfere too much with their timeline, but surely there’s something we can—“

“How do you feel about Plans R, U and N?” he interrupted, the corner of his mouth ticking up at her emerging grin. “Little fuzzy on the details at the moment but I’m sure we’ll— _oomph_.” He stumbled back a few paces as Rose lurched at him for an elated hug, bringing his arms up to squeeze her in return.

“Come on then,” beamed Rose, untangling herself to take hold of his hand. “Let’s turn that stroll into a run towards the inevitable.”

* * *

The Doctor and Rose kept to the dark shadows under the trees out the front of Midas’s castle. They could see Leia struggling against the sturdy grip of the guards who were hauling her towards a horse-drawn cart with iron prison bars the Queen had just conjured. Leia cried out when she dropped an object she was gripping in her hand, earning a look of intrigue from the Queen, who was just about to step into the royal carriage.

“Bring whatever it is to me,” the Queen demanded to one of her guards, who hurriedly complied, picking up a small piece of jewellery and placing it in her outstretched hand.

“Reg— _your majesty_ ,” Leia bit out through gritted teeth. “I already know this request is gonna be a lost cause but… you need to give that ring back to me.”

The Queen stared at her before bursting out into a peal of laughter. “I’m not sure where you’re from, _my dear_ , but in this land there’s only one rule,” she sneered. “ _I do what I want_.”

“Not just in this land,” Leia muttered.

“Excuse me?”

Leia flinched at the fireball the Queen summoned over her other hand, quickly bowing her head. “Nothing, I’m sorry. It’s just, that ring is very important to me – to everyone, really – and if you just understood what—“

“Silence! If I didn’t need to interrogate you about Snow White you’d be lit up like a candelabra right now.” The Queen extinguished the fireball, gesturing at her guards in irritation. “Take her away and put her in the dungeon.”

The Doctor aimed his sonic at the carriages as they disappeared down the dirt road. “I’m syncing up with the magic frequency so we can use it as a homing device to find the Queen’s castle from the TARDIS,” he explained to Rose.

“I’m not sure how we’re supposed to get the ring back from Madam Bonfire without getting singed,” said Rose, tapping her fingers against her lips in thought. “The only magic I know is how to make a coin appear from behind someone’s ear, it’s not exactly Houdini.”

“Never disregard the small things, Rose,” the Doctor said with a knowing smile as they walked in the direction of where the police box was hidden under an invisibility shield. “You never know when they’ll come in handy.”

Nearing their destination they were surprised to see a large net dangling from a tree branch, with a solid figure trapped inside struggling to free themselves from their impromptu jail.

“Bloody buggering _hell_ ,” a man’s voice cursed deeply, straining his hand out to futilely reach for the knotted heap at the top of the net.

Rose gaped at the Doctor. “That sounds just like…” she grabbed her skirts and took off in a jog towards him, the Doctor on her heels. Standing under the net, Rose cupped her hands around her mouth. “Are you alright up there, mate?” she called out.

Charles stilled, shifting around as best he could to glance down at his audience. “Of course, m’lady, just doing a spot of stargazing,” he said with a wry smirk, pressing his face through one of the rope squares. “It’s a tad uncomfortable but once I locate the Cygnus it’ll be worth it.”

“We can leave you to it then if you like?” the Doctor replied nonchalantly, rocking back on his heels with his hands in his pockets. He flinched when Rose whacked his arm. “What? Pretty boy’s allowed to snark but I’m not?”

“You’re right. I apologize for my abrupt manner,” Charles said with a sigh, scrubbing his hand over his jaw. “I’m truly grateful you came along, otherwise I may have been stuck up here for gods knows how long,” he grimaced. “I have a very urgent matter to attend to, and this setback has me a bit out of sorts.”

“It’s OK, we understand,” said Rose, giving him a friendly smile. “We’ll have you down in a jiffy. My name’s Rose by the way, and this is my… prince, um, Prince William!” she finished in a panic.

“ _Harry_ ,” the Doctor blurted out at the same time. “Uh, Prince William Harry, hello,” he added with a wave. “Ooh, this is very ‘Celebrity Head: House of Windsor Edition’ isn’t it,” he murmured under his breath to Rose.

“My name is Prince Charles,” answered Charles, not appearing to register the connection with the names. “I believe I dropped my sword on the way up – you can use that to cut through the rope.” 

Rose saw a glint of steel in the moonlight amongst the leaf-laden ground and pointed it out to the Doctor before glancing back up at Charles. “I think I remember seeing you at King Midas’s ball earlier,” she said casually. “You were with a beautiful woman in a lovely red gown, yeah?”

“Aye, that I was,” Charles replied with a brief smile. “Princess Leia.” He shook his head, gripping on to the rope confines with force. “There was a misunderstanding with the Queen and she was taken away from me, hence my matter of urgency.” He gave the net a kick of frustration. “I usually pride myself on my observational skills, but I was in such a hurry I didn’t see this contraption till it was too late.”

“It’s not always easy to think straight when someone you care about is in trouble, is it?” Rose said understandingly. “We’ll get you on your way soon.”

“Make that now,” called out the Doctor, holding up the sword. “Hold on tight, Charlie-boy!” He swung the blade down, severing the rope and sending the net into a free-fall to crash land in a pile of leaves. Rose and the Doctor assisted Charles in untangling himself and helped him to his feet.

“I owe the both of you many thanks,” said Charles, brushing debris from the back of his coat. 

“You can thank us by going to find your princess,” said Rose, as the Doctor handed back the sword. “Give those guards a right hook when you see them,” she said with a grin.

“Perhaps a left one might be better,” Charles replied, chuckling at himself. “Farewell, Princess Rose,” he said, bowing his head as he made his retreat. “And you, Prince William Harry.”

Rose and the Doctor waited until the coast was clear to materialize the TARDIS. “All aboard for the Evil Queen’s castle,” said the Doctor, unlocking the door and following Rose inside to the console.

* * *

“Oh my god, do they not have baths in fairy-tale land?” gasped Rose, her voice muffled under the black spiky helmet she’d just put over her head. “These guard uniforms smell worse than Mickey’s socks.”

“Cheer up,” replied the Doctor, fastening his own helmet. “At least it masks the cabbage smell.”

Rose stood, hands on hips. “I know you can’t see my face under this sewer helmet but believe me, I’m glaring at you so hard right now.”

“Duly noted!” said the Doctor gleefully, rubbing his hands together as he glanced towards the ground where two guards in their underclothes were lying after being hit with a temporary sonic nap. “We better get moving before someone notices Tweedledee and Tweedledum… Ooh, maybe it is them.” He turned a dial on the screwdriver and followed the low humming sound from the room in the Queen’s castle where they’d landed, and out into a vast hallway.

“I heard the carriages arrive when we did, so the Queen can’t be too far away,” said Rose, following along beside the Doctor, grasping at her oversized trousers so she wouldn’t trip.

“And the plan is clear?”

“Crystal.”

“Good,” he murmured, rounding the corner to where he could see the Queen standing in her room at the dresser with her back towards them. “Because we’re about to find out if it’s a brilliant one or if we’ll be joining our new friend in the dungeons… _Good evening, your majesty_ ,” the Doctor said in a low voice as they approached the entryway.

Rose followed the Doctor’s lead in a bow, wincing when the guard’s belt dug into her stomach. “Greetings, ma’am,” she mimicked, pitching her voice as deep as it could go.

The Queen whirled around, staring at them with narrowed eyes. “What are you two doing here?” she growled, walking towards them. “I thought I said I didn’t want to be disturbed?”

“We found something that may be of interest to you, your highness,” said the Doctor, spying Leia’s ring next to the jewellery box on the dresser. He held out his empty gloved hand, which was met with a snort of disdain.

“Are you showing me which body part I can rip off first?” she asked dryly. “Because that can be arranged if you don’t leave immediately.”

“Yes, well, before you do that let me just show you this.” The Doctor lifted his hand up to his ear, wiggled his fingers around, and brought his fist back down. When he opened it palm up once more there was a silver coin with Gallifreyan symbols etched on it. “Is your majesty pleased?”

Arching an eyebrow, the Queen jutted her chin forward in reluctant curiosity. “Does it have magical properties?”

“Well, not quite,” the Doctor admitted, flipping it up in the air and catching it. “But it’d buy you a hell of a lot of tokens at the arcade,” he said with a grin, lurching forward when the Queen grabbed him by the scruff of the neck.

“I have no idea what idiocy you’re spouting, nor do I care,” sneered the Queen, holding out her free hand to show him. “But guess what? I know a parlour trick with my hand too.” She plunged her hand into his chest, grinning maniacally, but her glee soon turned to bewilderment when she felt inside. “Why can I feel two hearts?” she demanded. “Who the hell are you?”

“The million dollar question that one is,” said the Doctor, wincing slightly at the pressure in his chest. “Ugh, that definitely doesn’t tickle does it? But I digress, you were asking about the double heart situation weren’t you,” he said, slipping his hand into his pocket. “It all started in the summer of…” He paused in confusion when a light mist covered the Queen’s face, causing her to instantly pass out and collapse on to the rug. The Doctor pivoted towards Rose, who was holding a small vial. “What was that?! I thought the plan was for me to send her into a sonic-induced sleep?”

“Yeah that was the plan until she nearly performed open heart surgery on you!” Rose said indignantly, shaking the bottle at him. “I had a bit of knock-out perfume leftover from Cassandra’s Freaky Friday takeover. Thought it might come in handy one day.”

“Right, well, good call then,” said the Doctor, stepping over the Queen and striding to the dresser to pick up the ring. “Let’s go find Leia,” he said, pocketing the ring and rubbing a hand over his chest. “And maybe some antacids.”

* * *

They discovered Leia, now dressed in less-fancy attire, being led down to the dungeons by two guards. Rose grinned when she heard Leia still giving them a hard time.

“I swear to god, buddy, if you don’t loosen your grip on my arm I’m going break free, rip off your stupid pointy helmet and shove it down your throat.” Leia gave the offending guard a saccharine smile. “Are we clear?” 

Rose tugged the Doctor behind a pillar before the group approached, yanking up her helmet. “This feels wrong just letting her get locked up,” she whispered. “Can’t we just set her free like we did with Charles?”

The Doctor lifted his own helmet halfway to peer at Rose. “I’m not exactly jumping with joy at the idea either,” he said sympathetically. “But we have to remember this isn’t our story, Rose. We’ve already interfered more than we probably should have, and you know the consequences.”

“That’s when it all implodes,” she murmured, giving him a sad smile when he squeezed her hand.

“Let’s leave this chapter on a good note then, hey?” Giving Rose’s hand another squeeze, the Doctor put his helmet back on and waited for Rose to do the same before they stepped out from behind the pillar. Leia and the two guardsmen halted on the spot.

“We have a message for the prisoner from the Queen,” Rose boomed in her deep voice, putting a hand on the hilt of her sword. “Step aside so we can deliver it.”

The two guards looked at each other and shrugged, as the Doctor took hold of Leia’s left arm while Rose held the other. Leia eyeballed the new duo warily as the other guards gave them space. “Well at least it can’t be another fireball,” Leia quipped, her voice holding a hint of tension at what might be coming.

Rose leaned in closer to Leia’s ear. “Don’t worry we’re not here to hurt you,” she reassured her in her normal voice. 

“We just thought you might need this,” the Doctor added, discreetly taking the ring from his pocket and placing it in Leia’s hand.

Leia gazed down at the wedding ring in astonishment, before lifting her head to stare at them with wide-eyes. “How did you..? Who are..? Why are you helping me?” she murmured in awe.

“We like it when the good guys win,” said Rose.

“Plus the health care here is terrible,” the Doctor said, patting at his chest with a cough.

“ _Thank you_ ,” Leia said, slipping the ring safely in her pocket. “You don’t know how much this means to me.”

“I’m so sorry we can’t do more to save you,” the Doctor replied, shaking his head in commiseration. “But do you know what? You strike me as the type of person who knows what it takes to save themselves.”

Leia nodded, offering them a wry smile. “I’m pretty good in that department, yeah.”

“Good luck,” said Rose, patting Leia’s arm as they motioned the other guards over. She stood with the Doctor and watched as Leia disappeared around a corner to the dungeon. Rose peeled off her hood and smoothed down her hair. “We did the right thing didn’t we?” she said in a small voice.

The Doctor gave her a warm smile as he followed suit with his helmet. “We did.” He noticed her eyes start to glisten as she tried to give him a matching smile in return and brought her into his arms for a hug. “What do you say – you, me, Planet Midnight, right now?” 

Rose wrapped her arms tighter around his body. “Would it be OK if we hung around the forest for a little while longer?” she murmured into his chest. “No interfering, just keeping an eye on things from the TARDIS.” Rose tilted her head up to look at him. “I just want to know they’ll get their happily ever after.”

The Doctor gave her a soft smile. “I think that can be arranged.”


End file.
